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Design refinements needed on Marriott proposal

When I first saw the pretty, curved glass wedge that initially was part of the proposed new Marriott hotel downtown (image, left), I was delighted. It signaled that the developers were aiming for an inspired, contemporary structure, something of our time that would be a bold departure from the surrounding historic buildings but respectfully integrated into the architectural mix.

It also suggested the developer understood that new construction on Wisconsin Ave., our city’s forlorn main artery, called for something special.

The proposed $50 million design wasn’t perfect. The largest section of the 200-room hotel was rather hulking. Still, there were certainly signs of a design-minded, enlightened approach, and it was still early in the process. Or so it seemed.

Now, that pretty little wedge has been dropped. In its place, and in an attempt to accommodate a request from the Historic Preservation Commission, is a plan to restore and reconstruct the facades of a 19th-century building (second image from top, right). This has the potential of turning the building into a faux version of itself. More on that shortly.

The debate surrounding the Marriott proposal often has been couched as a simple choice between jobs and economic development on the one side and the preservation of old buildings on the other. In the often poignant talk over jobs, the discussion about design gets lost.

In truth, this project represents one of the more complex and unprecedented decisions the city has faced about the role that preservation should play in development in recent memory.

Let’s review where things stand. The Common Council will consider an appeal from the project’s developer Jackson Street Management LLC on Wednesday. If they get 10 votes from the 15-member council, a ruling from the preservation commission requiring a design modification would be overturned, paving the way for the project to go forward as the design stands.

The proposal calls for a 10-story hotel with two distinct fronts, one on N. Milwaukee St. and one around the corner on E. Wisconsin Ave. The L-shaped hotel would wrap around the Johnson Bank building on the corner, itself beautifully restored and renovated. A large, modern brick building would face the Milwaukee St. side, while the largely reconstructed front of the Follansbee Block, originally a Second Empire structure, would serve as the front door to the hotel and its restaurant on Wisconsin Ave.

The project has wide community support, including from Mayor Tom Barrett, business operators and business and labor groups. A sense of urgency has driven the debate about the project, which the developers argue could bring sorely needed development to downtown, pedestrians to the streets, hundreds of hotel and construction jobs and $2.26 million in tax revenue to the city.

“Whether the vote is yes, or the vote is no, it’s important to move this process along,” said Barrett at a recent news conference when the proposal was being considered by the preservation panel.

Concern about delays, which project spokesman Evan Zeppos says can derail deals like these, is understandable.

But a decision to knock down buildings that have survived more than a century, including the only remaining intact block of 19th-century commercial architecture in Milwaukee (a very high percentage of a discrete historic district), needs time for thorough consideration, too.

The number of historically designated buildings involved makes the decision tough to sort through. Most of the five are vacant and in visible disrepair. Some are not as worthy of saving as others. For the most part, they are earnest, hard-working commercial buildings — good but not extraordinary. Their histories, too, have become physically and visually convoluted as they’ve been segmented and altered over time.

In other words, these are somewhat plain-Jane buildings with stories that aren’t so easy to tell.

At the same time, the old buildings exist within the context of a small district of 19th-century commercial buildings. Collectively, they have a unique character. It is these very kinds of workaday buildings that, found in clusters, can provide the basis for some of the most inspired reuses of old buildings, not unlike what we’ve seen in the Third Ward or downtown Racine. It’s the very sort of redevelopment that was touted in Milwaukee’s recently updated and adopted Downtown Plan, which features pictures of some of the buildings in question.

The question, then, is: Could the finer features of these plain Janes be played up to great effect in the right hands? Many preservationists insist they could be, adding that the buildings may look blighted but are far from irreversibly damaged.

Weighing the potential of these buildings against the here-and-now promise of the Marriott project is a hard business, certainly, and reasonable people will disagree.

If a decision is made to demolish the buildings, my hope is that our elected officials ensure the bar is high for what replaces them.

Kahler Slater, the design architects on the project, have done a sensitive job of attempting to honor the history of the Follansbee building, the side of the hotel that will face Wisconsin Ave. The design as it stands now would substantially recreate the 19th-century look of the building, which was changed over the decades, including the addition of an Art Deco façade.

The plan is to salvage Cream City brick from the existing buildings for the recreated portions of the façade. Brick pilasters and window surrounds will be created to match the originals, as well as limestone window sills and keystones. Painted tin cornices will ornament the building, and diamond-shaped slate tiles will be replaced on the mansard roof.

As designed, the life inside the building would be visible from the street. The entrance to the hotel and restaurant are on the glassy first level, and ballroom events and chandeliers will be visible in the arched windows above. Still, even with the best of materials and choices, the chances that this façade-only approach will feel inauthentic, like a phony version of the building’s former self, is high.

The question becomes, do we want a relic of the past or something significant and of our own time at this prominent spot? While I’m not a fan of demolishing historic buildings, I’d advocate for it in this case. I’d rather see something inventive and contemporary that is sensitive to the scale of the historic block. Preservation is not only about the old; it’s about the timeless.

On the Milwaukee St. side, the building as currently designed is unremarkable and suffers from an attempt to play well with its neighbors. It’d be a shame to tear down buildings of character to make room for something so lacking in it.

It’s a fundamentally modern design clad in largely traditional materials, giving it a conflicting nature, as if it wants to be simultaneously new and old. It includes darkish red-brown brick on much of the first four floors, which correspond to neighboring historic buildings. Up top, two horizontally shaped boxes, curtain walls of glass trimmed in aluminum, float up and out slightly. It’s a nod to the new, but not a particularly convincing one.

There’s a visual heaviness to some of the materials and a largeness to the scale of the lower building that contribute to a monolithic feel, a building with a height and mass that appears out of whack with the historic block. There may be many solutions to this design issue. Perhaps one of them is for the project to veer clearly toward the contemporary and consider materials such as steel and glass.

In the end, I hope that the Marriott project moves forward with minimal delays. As we consider sacrificing some of our city’s built heritage to make this happen, I would hope there’d be time made for additional design review and refinement. Otherwise, we may end up with a decision many will cheer in the short run and a building Milwaukeeans will be nonplused by for generations to come.

1. A rendering of the initial design for the proposed Marriott hotel included a glassy, wedge-shaped building on E. Wisconsin Ave.

2. A rendering of the most recent design for a proposed Marriott hotel includes a substantial restoration and recreation of a historic 19th-century building that has been altered over the decades. This rendering shows the portions of the historic Follansbee Block building that would be restored to a Second Empire appearance.

3. Some historically designated buildings on N. Milwaukee St. may be demolished to make way for a proposed Marriott hotel, except for the Johnson Bank building (far right).

4. The Johnson Bank building (far left), as seen along E. Wisconsin Ave., would remain. Only the facades of the structures beside it would be retained and restored to their 19th-century appearance, serving as the entrance to the hotel.

5. A rendering of the proposed hotel as it would be seen from the N. Milwaukee St. side. It would be situated in the middle of the block, between the McGeoch (left) and Johnson Bank (far right) buildings.

About Mary Louise Schumacher

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic. She writes about culture, design, the urban landscape and Milwaukee's creative community. Art City is her award-winning cultural page and a community of more than 20 contributing writers and artists.

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